Under
construction......more coming almost daily....lots of bits will be
lying about for your perusal as we saw away at it....you are invited
to send any recollections of Rather Ripped Records in Berkeley, CA,
the Dedicated Fool in North Carolina, Berkeley, Sacramento and/or now
Pittsburgh, Tunes to Go in Sacramento, Face the Music in heaven and
environs or bands like Monet's Gardens, Cement Trampoline, Cold
October, Sachiko, 9th Creation, Steve One and the Shades, and any
other ruminations on this axis of music phreaks and their world...to
emikoo@comcast.net...thanks, Russ

The earliest spotting

Wherein we learn how a Canadian, name of Richard and a
refugee from the wilds of Pittsburgh, a boy with lots of hair, named
Russ, forsook a Leopold's Records Store in Berkeley that he and
partner, Richard, helped build, to become Fools, and then got RATHER RIPPED.

Here's one early picture, if you get this far.

Wendy O. Williams visit to RRR for autograph party. An early pic of
young Russ with Hair, face and head, early Sex P's tee shirt made by
artist, Hugh Brown, Ms. Arayah Genanian, Mr. Miles lower right. An
early staff of the original Rather Ripped at left, up front David
Kuznets, who went to UK to marry the beautiful Ms. Enid just beside
him there,. In England he worked for many many years at Topic
Records, and he just informed me, he is still there, soldiering on.
Hi. David, Hi Enid.

At 5 years old, I whined and wheedled my mother into buying me a 45
by Johnnie Ray - Little White Cloud That Cried/Cry on Columbia
Records' Okeh label, its race records label...cause Johnny was a bit
too soulful to hang out with Mitch Miller, I guess. So were Clive
Davis, Santana, Miles Davis and the like, but that's a later story.

Mom was a high school musician, a Tamburitzan, a Croatian folk troupe
wherein she played bizernetza along with her usual Hawaiian and
acoustic guitar. She gave up a scholarship and had me (hey, we all
make mistakes, some turn out okay..I like to think I was one of the
okay ones, but I am sure I have some old acquaintances who would beg
to differ.) Anyhow Dad was a world war II hero, handsome as the Devil
can make 'em, and he liked country music mostly, so I got an early
dose of Hank Williams, Slim Bryant, Bill Monroe and the like.

And then along came Elvis, the Everly Brothers and a million
excellent doo wop groups, kind of one per corner in my teen years, of
which I of course, was one.

Introduction by Miles: "For the first time in Berkeley. Will you
please welcome THE POLICE". Sting: "This is Berkeley right?
Now be careful, because you are on the radio as well". Stewart:
"So sing in tune".

During Roxanne: "I tell you what. 3,000 people right? Can you
sing? Course you can sing. Sing with me".

Before the encore Stewart made the comment: "I went to school
here, about five years ago".

This show was recorded and broadcasted live by KSAN radio in San Francisco.

In the afternoon of 05-03-1979 The Police did an album signing and
in-store appearance at Rather Ripped Records in Berkeley.

HORSLIPS - THE BELFAST GIGS LP, Live at Whitla Hall, Belfast, April
29, 30 and May 1, 1980. If you don't know this Irish rock/folk/prog
band that heavily influenced U2 and any other Irish rocker that came
afterwards, well you should. We became friends with them over the
years and they played our final birthday party at Rather Ripped
Records in Berkeley, CA, and we became better friends until they
disbanded. Interested, go to google and type in Horslips for a full
panorama incl. their own website... Or

A stop before landing. While I was tinkering away at the idea of
getting a job, or actually having to write back there in 1970, a
friend, actually my first friend in Berkeley, Woody, the caretaker
for the apartments, came by to smoke a doobie (you know a brother who
played music) and inform me that Leopold's Records needed a truck
driver who happened to have a truck and knew something about music. I
figured I fit the bill.

Anyhow, Leopold Stokowski Appreciation Society was a student run
record store....an answer to Tower Records and Discount Records, both
chains in Berkeley, taking student money and sending it out of town.
Where have we seen this happen before or since? (Wal-Mart, Best Buy
anyone). Well Berkeley being a bit more radical than the rest of the
country --- probably still is --was overjoyed and supported this
store and its large discount prices, enough so that a good handful of
people were employed.

After an interview, with Jason - God love him and hope he is well, he
could play Bee Gees songs and write them as well, as good as the
Brothers Gibb. I was hired as a driver, go pick up records at the
distributor guy.

In late '69, Mr. Ripped, The Fool or Russ as he is sometimes known
crossed the great big USA from Pittsburgh, PA to Berkeley, CA with
three beautiful women in an old van. Seemed to be the thing to do as
we skipped going to Woodstock that weekend and headed West. Quite a
trip, I must say. The US was beautiful in '69, so were my travelling
companions, but I can't say it was any less prejudiced or right wing,
as town after town had a problem with the fact that I had long curly
hair. In Denver, the Mile High City, (and I thought they were the
Mile High City 'cause they had the best dope, nope they ---at the
time anyhow -- just had the most dopes. Can't say I've ever had the
urge to go back and visit after we had to make a quick exit from a
bunch of good old boys, who were threatening to kick my ass (all six
of them), maybe six could, didn't wait to find out. And never looked
back, and they are all probably sitting at the same diner, wishing
they had lives, huh!

Lost a suitcase off the top of the truck in Kansas when we stopped to
fix a flat, and found out that when the cops found it, they thought
it was a sex cult once one of the women's moms told them we were
okay, one guy and three girls....wish I had the newspaper report from
old Pittsburgh, our home town....and this was before Manson, Jim
Jones and the renegade Mormons. But before the erstwhile Kansas
troopers could find us, we were long gone and into California.

Needless to say when we hit California, I pulled the truck over and
kissed the ground and yelled "I'm Home" And I was back then.

First thing we did was get an apartment on Derby Street in Berkeley,
CA. The rental agent was rather smitten with my beautiful companions
and didn't even wince or run a credit check when I told him I was a
writer, and that' s how I made a living. Well, it turned out to be
true, but most of the writing was on music, and Rather Ripped ended
up publishing most of it.